ASD

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a
neurodevelopmental disorder found in 1 in 68 children. As well as suffering
neurologically-based difficulties in social communication and interaction, plus
restricted and repetitive behaviour patterns, young people with an ASD also
often experience anxiety. This comorbidity of ASD and anxiety can confound the
process of accurate diagnosis and treatment planning for children with an ASD,
particularly when the individual with an ASD experiences chronic stress.

Because of this confound between the
symptoms of ASD and those of anxiety and the need to accurately identify which
symptoms are associated with which disorder, several major issues have been
focussed upon in our research programme. This programme is conducted in
collaboration with the Centre for Autism Spectrum Disorder at Bond University
in Queensland, primarily via Professor Vicki Bitsika, the Director of that
Centre and who is also an Adjunct Professor in the Brain-Behaviour Research
Group at UNE.

Several specific research foci have been
examined in this research programme:

The prevalence, nature and specific indictors of anxiety in ASD.

Differences in anxiety ratings between parents and the children with an ASD.

The association between anxiety and depression in children with an ASD.

The links between cortisol and anxiety/depression in ASD.

How children with an ASD respond to change, using anxiety and psychophysiological indicators (HR, HRV, EDA, cortisol) as validators.

Sensory sensitivity, anxiety and ASD.

Aberrant behaviour and its association with anxiety in ASD.

Parental stress, anxiety and depression and how these influence parents' perceptions of their child's state.

This
collaboration includes researchers from the USA (Prof John Sweeney, Unit Texas)
and the UK (Prof Richard Mills, University of Bath). We are also working on a
collaboration with researchers at the University of Cambridge (UK).

The University of New England respects and acknowledges that its people, programs and facilities are built on land, and surrounded by a sense of belonging, both ancient and contemporary, of the world's oldest living culture. In doing so, UNE values and respects Indigenous knowledge systems as a vital part of the knowledge capital of Australia.